The Math-Free Way to Estimate Your Future Social Security Benefit

You know Social Security will be there to help you cover some of your costs in retirement. But if you don't know how much it'll give you, it's difficult to work out how much you need to save on your own to cover the rest.

Fortunately, you don't need to learn a complicated benefit formula or even pull out a calculator to estimate how much you might get from the program in the future.

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The easiest way to figure out what your future benefit could look like is to create a my Social Security account. This is free, but it takes a bit to set up the first time. You'll need to answer some identity verification questions, then select a username and password.

Once you're in, you'll get access to a benefit estimator tool. This shows you how much you can expect from the program at every claiming age from 62 to 70. It's based on your income history to date and estimates of your future earnings, which you can adjust.

There's also a tool that can help you estimate what kind of spousal benefit you'll qualify for if you're married. To determine this, you'll need to know the benefit your spouse qualifies for at their full retirement age (FRA) -- 67 for most people today. They can look this up in their own my Social Security account. Then, you can plug the information into yours and see how your spousal benefit stacks up to your estimated retirement benefit.

Keep in mind, the numbers you see here aren't set in stone. But they can give you a pretty good approximation of what to expect when you finally retire.

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